Facebook Seeks Out Former Apple iPhone and iPad Enginners To Build A Smartphone

Could Facebook successfully launch a smartphone? Would a Facebook phone shake the foundation of Apple? It looks like Facebook has been shaking down former Apple Engineers asking all the right questions…

This report comes from The New York Times:

The company has already hired more than half a dozen former Apple software and hardware engineers who worked on the iPhone, and one who worked on the iPad, the employees and those briefed on the plans said.

One engineer who formerly worked at Apple and worked on the iPhone said he met with Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, who then peppered him with questions about the inner workings of smartphones. It did not sound like idle intellectual curiosity, the engineer said; Mr. Zuckerberg asked about intricate details, including the types of chips used, he said. Another former Apple hardware engineer was recruited by a Facebook executive and was told about the company’s hardware explorations.

I don’t believe that Facebook is going after the iPhone, Android would be a much easier target for the social network giant. The companies move to talk with Apple Engineers shows they want to be better than Android. Since Apple is aggressively dominating Android, Facebook is making the best moves to ensure their smartphone is better than anything Google puts out.

Apparently Facebook plans pushing out a phone by next year and they’re outsourcing for the right people…

…Facebook is going to great lengths to keep the phone project a secret, specifically not posting job listings on the company’s job Web site, but instead going door-to-door to find the right talent for the project…

…Employees of Facebook and several engineers who have been sought out by recruiters there, as well as people briefed on Facebook’s plans, say the company hopes to release its own smartphone by next year. These people spoke only on condition of anonymity for fear of jeopardizing their employment or relationships with Facebook…

Facebook has over 900 million users so you’d think they’d receive some attention from that big of a user base. But would Facebook really be able to do it? Furthermore, would Facebook develop their own operating system for a smartphone or would they outsource that as well?

Could this be the reason Facebook has been pushing out so many native-like apps including the Facebook Camera app? Or how about their $1 billion purchase of Instagram? Who knows, but I’m guessing we’ll find out soon.

We touched on this in our latest Podcast, click here to check out the discussion.

I'm from Phoenix, AZ, married to a wonderful wife, have a beautiful daughter, and three dogs. I would definitely consider myself (in the coolest, most hipster way possible) a nerd. That being said, I love music, photo, video, and all things technology.
I like to spend my free time hanging out with the family and watching corny reality shows. I currently write for 9to5Mac.com / 9to5Google.com, and run the macmixing YouTube Channel.